1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to bleed-resistant dry-transfer wallcoverings. More particularly, it relates to a plurality of such wallcoverings designed together to provide the user the ability to decorate with high quality and easily varied designs having a common theme.
2. Description of Related Art
It is often desirable to provide a high quality hand-painted design on the wall of a room or related interior surface. For example, people often hire artists to paint a design or mural onto the walls of a child""s room or infant""s nursery. Unfortunately, not everybody can afford the expense of hiring an artist. Often times, sophisticated decorating with paint is labor intensive, requiring time and artistic skill that is beyond the average consumer. Hence, many people have turned to appliquxc3xa9s for providing themed decorative scenes on their walls.
Appliquxc3xa9s have enjoyed moderate success. Traditionally, appliquxc3xa9s have been available to provide a border around the perimeter of a room, for example near the ceiling or above the wainscot. There are at least two principal drawbacks to current appliquxc3xa9s. The first is that they do not provide the same high quality hand-painted appearance as a painted design. Second, existing appliquxc3xa9s result in a thick decorated layer that must be removed prior to redecorating and cannot easily be painted over without leaving the outline of the past art.
Traditionally, appliquxc3xa9s are cut into 4-6 color sheets, making design limited. Frequently one color is applied wet and must be allowed to dry before the next color is applied, making appliquxc3xa9 application very cumbersome and time consuming. Color application for existing appliquxc3xa9s is thick and typically limited to displaying only coarse elements.
Some transfer appliquxc3xa9s are made via a screen printing process. Screen printed appliquxc3xa9s allow a limited number of colors for the design (i.e. up to 4-6 colors). They also have limited resolution which limits the intricacy of the design, and do not control color transparency, but result in a thick opaque color deposit that is within the application skill level of most do-it-yourself consumers.
Higher quality appliquxc3xa9s are also available which are made via an offset printing process. However, these appliquxc3xa9s must be removed from a wall prior to redecorating because they cannot be painted over. Existing appliquxc3xa9s cannot be painted over because the ink typically used in them, particularly the red ink, Red 2B, bleeds through the paint within a day to several weeks of being painted over and stains the wall, in addition, these appliquxc3xa9s often have a thick vinyl, paper or other polymer support layer which would appear unsightly through a coat of paint. The necessary removal of a permanently adhered appliquxc3xa9 is a difficult and cumbersome task.
There is a need in the art for a high quality appliquxc3xa9 providing the appearance (detail and resolution) of a hand-painted design that can simply be painted over when it is time to redecorate. Preferably, such an appliquxc3xa9 will be of the dry-transfer kind, and not a wet-transfer appliquxc3xa9 which is used in the art but frequently stains the wall with water or glue marks. Preferably, the dry-transfer appliquxc3xa9 will use inks that will not bleed through a coat of paint when redecorating. Also, such an appliquxc3xa9 preferably will be very thin or have negligible thickness such that it will not be visible to an observer through a coat of paint. In addition, there is a need to expand the appeal of dry-transfer wallcoverings beyond the traditional border concept such that appliquxc3xa9 are used for overall themed decoration of a room or living space. Preferably, such an improved dry-transfer appliquxc3xa9 will allow a typical do-it-yourself consumer to arrange and coordinate elements into more intricate and appealing designs to suit his or her particular application.
A dry-transfer appliquxc3xa9 is provided having an ink design layer and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer. The ink design layer has at least three color ink layers. Each of the color ink layers has a color pigment that is bleed-resistant.
An appliquxc3xa9 assemblage is also provided having a plurality of dry-transfer appliquxc3xa9s. Each of the appliquxc3xa9s has a unique appliquxc3xa9 design that is consistent with a particular decorative theme. Each of the appliquxc3xa9s has an ink design layer and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer. The ink design layer has at least three color ink layers. Each of the color ink layer has a color pigment that is bleed-resistant.